I’m About to Say Something Politically Incorrect

The sheriff in Georgia paid for a sign with his own money that reads, “Warning: Harris County is politically incorrect. We say Merry Christmas, God Bless America and In God We Trust. We salute our troops and our flag. If this offends you — leave!”

An explanation of Politically Correct speech from Conservapedia, which touts itself as The Trustworthy Encyclopedia:

“In the past the term “crippled” was perfectly acceptable and not considered offensive. At some point, Americans like Senate Republican leader Bob Dole decided “crippled” was degrading and the preferred term changed to “handicapped.” This, too, was eventually deemed offensive and “disabled” became the preferred term. Today, even “disabled” is considered degrading to some and “differently abled” and “physically challenged” are used by those people. The same can be said for the changing uses of terms for Black Americans: “Negro” and “colored,” once perfectly acceptable terms, became offensive during the 1970s and “Afro-American” and “Black” came into use, which in turn gave way to “African-American,” and in broader usage, “people of color.” One perceived problem with “Negro” is that many persons, especially Southerners, seemed to have trouble pronouncing it, enunciating it as “nigra.”

I did not know that Southerners had trouble pronouncing the word Negro. I grew up in the South and I never knew that those who spat out the N-word suffered a speech impediment.
Conservapedia goes on to say: It is now acceptable in many Universities to have courses on gender, homosexual and African American studies, which, in fact, encourage the mainstream public to become different to avoid criticism.

It is now acceptable to have academic studies of gender, or gay and African-American people?

Why is raising our standards of social conduct to embrace and respect the differences in people so wrong?

Perhaps if I click the Conservapedia link to Homosexual I will find a clue:

“If homosexuality were significantly influenced by genes, it would appear in every culture, but in twenty-nine of seventy-nine cultures surveyed by Ford and Beach in 1952, homosexuality was rare or absent. It was very rare in the Siriono, even though there were no prohibitions on homosexual relationships in that culture. The researcher observed only one man displaying slight homosexual traits but apparently not sexually involved with another man. Homosexuality appears to be rare among Orthodox Jews [Orthodox Judaism forbids homosexuality], so much so that learned rabbis, the interpreters of Jewish law, usually allowed men to sleep in the same bed, because likelihood of sexual contact was considered negligible. Kinsey also found very low homosexual incidence among Orthodox Jews…

Homosexuality is rare among Orthodox Jews?

Conservapedia cites Conservapedia on the data from Kinsey so I researched the claim:

Here is what Kinsey actually said: “On the whole, homosexual contacts occur most frequently among the males who are not particularly active in their church connections. They occur less frequently among devout Catholics, Orthodox Jewish groups, and Protestants who are active in the church. The differences are not always great, but lie constantly in the same direction.” Sexual Behavior in the Human Male

Perhaps Homosexuality seems rare among Orthodox Jews because Gays from that community either stay in the closet or leave. The Jewish Week 2013

The book notably considers homosexuality in both humans and other animals, citing evidence of accepted homosexual behavior in 49 of the 76 cultures for which the relevant data were available

Patterns of Sexual Behavior has been described as a “classic” of its field. Released in 1951, between the two volumes of the Kinsey Reports, the book was highly influential in the study of sexual behavior, and provided the intellectual foundation for the later research of Masters and Johnson. The study is credited with “making homosexual behavior more visible and more acceptable within the culture of its time.”

“The aid which we feel impelled to give to the helpless is mainly an incidental result of the instinct of sympathy, which was originally acquired as part of the social instincts, but subsequently rendered, in the manner previously indicated, more tender and more widely diffused. Nor could we check our sympathy, if so urged by hard reason, without deterioration in the noblest part of our nature. The surgeon may harden himself whilst performing an operation, for he knows that he is acting for the good of his patient; but if we were intentionally to neglect the weak and helpless, it could only be for a contingent benefit, with a certain and great present evil. Hence we must bear without complaining the undoubtedly bad effects of the weak surviving and propagating their kind; but there appears to be at least one check in steady action, namely the weaker and inferior members of society not marrying so freely as the sound; and this check might be indefinitely increased, though this is more to be hoped for than expected, by the weak in body or mind refraining from marriage.” Reflecting on Darwin.

This is from a Conservapedia entry on President Obama:Barack Hussein Obama: Barack Hussein Obama II (reportedly born in Honolulu, Hawaii on August 4, 1961) is the 44th President of the United States. Through heavy use of early voting by the Democrat political machine, Obama was elected president in 2008 with 365 electoral votes and 53% of the popular vote. In 2012 he was elected to a second term with 332 electoral votes and 51% of the popular vote, losing 5 million voters from four years earlier. Promoted heavily by liberals, as demonstrated by his unjustified receipt of the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, Obama clutched the presidency despite a short and unremarkable political career by outspending his opponent, John McCain, by hundreds of millions of dollars in 2008, and spending more than a billion dollars from special interests to snag reelection in 2012.

The term Politically Correctimplies a dogmatic, almost religious adherence to a political position regardless of the truth.

Conservative principles are based on reason. So why do non-conservatives still exist? Here are some reasons:

20%: did not hear about conservative principles until after they made up their mind and, perhaps due to pervasive societal bias, refuse to reconsider

10%: genuinely lack of desire to find the truth, and instead desire attention, praise by liberal teachers, getting along by going along, and not standing up to liberal bullies

10%: refuse to forgive themselves and let go of their past mistakes and image

10%: believe myths created around government programs like the “New Deal” that liberal policies create jobs instead of destroying them and depriving people of liberty through government control.

10%: fooled by the demonizing of conservatives and mistakenly feel that conservative benefits are available only to those who are from an intact family or privileged background

10%: refuse to rise above their personal temptations, often self-destructive, and hate conservatives who criticize their self-indulgent behavior

10%: feel that they deserve to make more money than they do, as in public school teachers, university professors and scientists, and refuse to rise above self-interest

10%: harbor a grudge against a conservative, typically a parent but sometimes an ex-spouse, and refuse to forgive or rise above the animosity

5%: like an anarchist, genuinely want to believe in and propagate destructive ideas (Due to the tendency of non-conservatives to refuse to admit this even to themselves, this number could be much higher)

5%: are susceptible to marketing and suggestion to an overlarge degree.

According to the Conservapedia43% percent of the people who live in the U.S. are flawed, attention seeking, angry, selfish, destructive, and brainwashed.
That 43% (or More) disagrees with them is mystery to the ideologues of Conservapedia because conservative orthodoxy does not allow them to be wrong.

54 thoughts on “I’m About to Say Something Politically Incorrect”

I really despise statistics at times.
I dunno if it’s genetic, but people are just born with sexuality. I like sheets of white cotton and other people prefer bright-colored silk — I’ve always been this way — is that genetic? Does it even matter? How does my sheet choice affect other people? Can’t I be loved even if I don’t know why I prefer the cotton?

I tend to think the gene theory is plausible, because I come from a conservative family and to be frank, despite that, I have a gay father, a gay uncle, two bisexual cousins and a gay cousin. That’s a lot for not being genetic, but I have no proof.
We have four kids. What’re the odd they’ll all be straight? Uh, they’re not. Good thing their parents don’t even care!
Just this week, I’ve been supporting a friend who came out. I guess she didn’t want to live alone and unloved all her life, can you imagine? Her family and friends are praying for her, Robert, because SIN. I can see now, in a way that I never did before, that her struggles with addiction and self-harm have always been directly related to this secret she’s kept and I am deeply disturbed. She needs a new spiritual community that accepts her as she is. I find myself feeling combative about those who condescend to her, and am having a hard time controlling my temper. So far, so good. If I feel this way, I cannot even imagine how she feels!
These times we live in are trying on my patience.

If we learned anything from Kinsey et al, shouldn’t it be that the range is astounding and sexual norms are relative?

I think that everything that we are is mapped out in the brain and we haven’t yet learned how to read that part of the map.

You are right to ask, does it even matter; why is it a sin to ‘choose’ a same sex relationship?

it isn’t and the parents of gay children who hound and bully their kids do a great job of making messes out of the lives of their children.

I hope your friend has enough insight into her addictive process to tease out the truth. If there are gay meetings where you live I strongly advise your friend seek one out and make it part of her recovery.

It isn’t in some philosophies, which is the point. I’m ok with people who wouldn’t make that choice.

I’m even ok with people who think it’s a sin because in a democracy they are not expected to have the freedom to impose those beliefs on me.

That’s the point. If your parents raised you to question and to think for yourself then they are the best kind of Conservative. True conservatives in a Democracy understand that we are the government and they do not demonize opposing opinions.

Actually, most of it is fabricated. What scares me is the combination of certainty and self deception. It seems characteristic of extremists regardless of how the label themselves. It’s what allows a man to shoot up an abortion clinic or a woman to blow herself up in Paris. An extremist is lethal in an atmosphere that feeds on anger and self delusion.

I hope you had a good holiday…and that your family is well…I owe your blog a visit, and I will get there soon.

I would laugh if it wasn’t so downright upsetting and depressing to see that those politically correct definitions are so retarded. Some people need to get their noses out of their notes and statistics and go out and see the world a little… Plus their consider that homosexuality applies more to male??? WTF?? IMO this more an extensive collection of stupid judgmental point of view from people who not only have absolutely no idea what they are talking about but have taken for granted all the bad mouthing they have heard through the grapevines. This is 2015 for christ sake!! I’m totally pissed to see that some layers of that society we live in is still living in the middle age and are trying to justify their narrow minded vision by biased unfounded and illogical thinking, trying to make it appear as a politically correct definition, implying it is free of any prejudice against people who have different preferences. I was fortunate enough to grow up with a friend of my mother who was also her hairdresser and who was renting an apartment in our house. He was gay and I always knew and felt I could trust him with my life on any matter whatsoever. He was more than a friend, he was like both the big brother and the little sister I never had. He was very strong and determined but also patient and very sensitive. I was getting all kinds of stupid things I was hearing from my friends and I happened to fall into believing some of them but he always very gently kept me on the right way of thinking, not only about gays but about anyone on this earth who is different in any way and I am forever thankful for that. I wish those guys who wrote those pretentious so called politically correct ”truths” had met him. May he rest in peace now.

It’s hard for me to trust. I often hold people at bay in order to get a sense of who they are. It is very easy for someone to hide true intentions behind a mask of good will and affinity on social media and I have met more than my share of them. I am glad that you commented. If I seem distant at times it is more than likely because I am confused or simply wondering if what I think I’m seeing is real.

One of the best posts I have read since I started blogging. Unfortunately,not enough people will read this. Most liberals will be offended by it. They find it safer to stick their heads in the ground and blindly follow their leaders. Perhaps that is why half of this country now receives some kind of government subsidy. I loved every single word. You nailed your points on homosexuality and political correctness. Great work.

Thank you for your comment. First, a response regarding the assertion that half of the people in the U.S. receive a subsidy. Statistics without context are deceptive. According to the the Population Reference Bureau there are 76.4 million Baby Boomers in the United States. The youngest baby boomers began to reach age 50 in 2014. According to Gallup only a third of the oldest baby boomers in U.S. Still Working. “The percentage of 65- to 68-year-olds generation still in the workforce in 2014 is almost identical to what Gallup measured among the pre-boomers of this age range in 2010. Thus, the vanguard of the boomer generation is retiring at nearly the identical rate as were pre-boomers four years ago. Boomers also have higher levels of disability than their parents: “A study in a recent issue of the journal Demography–synthesizing the results of five national surveys—found increasing disability among those ages 55 to 64 between 2000 and 2008 (a group that included the oldest baby boomers). So a large generation of people is retiring and beginning to experience age related disability. This will cause an increase in the number of people who receive a government subsidy in the form of Social Security and disability, both of which we paid in to when we worked. Social Security is our money, not the government’s. The aging of the baby boomers accounts for the appearance of increased dependence on ‘the government’ our government, for food and shelter.

My point about political correctness is that it is a red herring. My goal is not to offend but to point out how absurd it is for any group of people to lock themselves into a world of half truth and fabricated history and to simply decide that any opposing view is somehow deviant.

By any reasonable standard I am a Conservative in that I argue to preserve the best of our traditions which are vision, the rule of law, equality before the law, and respect for human weakness. I’m not a fan of the cynicism that I see from either side of the political spectrum in the U.S.

The most dangerous aspect of an extremist point of view is that it makes us provincial in a world that is interconnected, and not uniform or willing to shut itself into an echo chamber. We are all citizens of the same country and ultimately, the world. I don’t have to agree with your point of view to know that as a fellow being you feel pain, have hopes and aspirations and want what’s best for you and your family. This artificial dichotomy between liberal and conservative is killing us and destroying our nation.

I hear your point, but I am talking about EBT (food stamps), section 8, people residing in public housing. welfare, and all those hand out programs. Social security is earned. Not a handout. I enjoyed this post as I enjoy many of your other post my friend. Best to you and yours.

I forgot to mention Medicaid, WIC, and Obamacare. We agree on many times my friend. In no way am I trying to argue with you. Tax payer dollars need to be used to resolve real problems. In the 90s I worked for Dept of Social Services and I saw the abuse and wasted funds. In NY there are hundred of grocery stores that exchange beer for food stamps (EBT). And there are even more that exchange $20 dollars cash for $30 of food stamps. If less people were on the tax payers back there would be more funds to help the homeless, prevent hunger, and even do something Obama hasn’t done. Help the veterans who defended out rights get decent healthcare. If more people informed themselves, like you and I have done, we may be able to reach real solutions, and make this a better country. Take care my friend. Have a good evening.

There is also another group of people who collect billions in taxpayer dollars and are never held accountable. These are large multinational corporate “persons” who suck up tax breaks from the U.S. while moving jobs overseas. We have cut public assistance to such an extent that real people are suffering while the corporate “persons” use their power to distort and twist the public debate.

I owe the fact that I have any education at all to The Great Society. When we use the government to fund programs that expand opportunity they become tools for people to become independent.

My Father had a stroke when I was 12.

My parents were not left to raise their children on the streets.

When my Father qualified for disability his children were eligible for vocational schools, placement tests and government grants for education.

I think that I have given back that investment over the course of my life by choosing to work in fields that focus on improving people’s lives.

I have never forgotten what it felt like to live under a government that was managed by adult’s with an adult sense of responsibility for the future.

If we are going to cut food stamps then we should increase funding for education and health care.

It is so very easy to resent person in the checkout lane for the small allotment of food stamps she has–but much harder to tackle the corporate welfare kings who tout themselves as examples of self reliant success.

If they are so self reliant; why won’t they pay taxes and hold themselves accountable for their mistakes?

I worked or San Francisco’s public health system from 2001 to 2009.

When I worked in the public system I saw people who behaved irresponsibly with their benefits, but this is also sometimes a symptom of an illness.

My personal impression is this: anyone who scams the present system for the paltry amount of money they get is pathetic and most likely too ill to work. I have never met a healthy person who was content to live in grinding poverty.

Great response. The people here in NY that celebrate beating the system for the paltry amount is ridiculous. My friend, I agree with much that you say, don’t get the impression I am arguing with you. Your posts are important and profound. Keep up the good work.

Thanks for saying that. We can’t agree on all points, but we have to listen to the other side. I don’t wear blinders and think everything Democrat or Republican is right. Each has its positives and its faults. Your posts are fair and filled with facts to back your ideas. Always a pleasure reading your posts. Take care.

Exactly. I consider myself a Conservative. I think that the system that was created by the generation that defeated the overt fascism of Hitler did a wonderful job of preserving our nation’s principles even as they failed in other areas. They understood the importance of opportunity and access to resources. Were they perfect? No. But they weren’t raving liberals. They weren’t raving conservatives either. If there isn’t room for compromise in our nation there isn’t room for a democracy.

Thank You! I watched a couple of films that I found at the Internet Archives. Both of them are made in 1946 and produced by the Encyclopedia Britannica. I consider the vast amount of digitized information we now have, especially the films and audio files that we have of nearly the whole of the 20th Century a
kind of collective memory. One survival function of memory is that we remember where danger is, or the outcome of a bad decision and we don’t make those mistakes again. If we can’t use our collective memory to avoid a sadistic tyranny then we really are dumb beasts and we won’t survive as a species. I was so impressed by these films that I incorporated them into an essay which I will post today.

The troubling aspect of all of this is that by creating a separate world in which they are never challenged they have removed themselves from the best of the traditions that we have in this country. We have a tradition of laying aside partisanship in order to focus on what is best for the Nation. I consider myself a moderate, but even most the conservative moderate is too liberal by the standards of people who have decided to seal themselves off from compromise and questions.

The fact that writers of Conservapedia consider the existence of opposing opinions mystifying and demonize the people who have those opinions is especially troubling — history WILL repeat itself if we are not actively using reason to intervene.

Thank you. There is something wrong with people who create an alternate, fictional world with it’s own history and people in order to prop up their beliefs. They live in a mythological world in which the worst people are the ones who argue for fair play and the rule of law and their worst enemies say happy holidays instead
of merry Christmas.

Well, not literally kill me, I hope. But the mindsets, the ignorance, the blatant inability to accept people’s differences. It’s so disheartening and frustrating to hear and see. It’s maddening at times, but then I think, “Well, it’s their opinion, and they’re entitled to it.” But it just baffles me sometimes. Why do they care if someone they don’t even know is gay, bi, straight or whatever. Why do they care so much? I don’t get why they can’t just live their lives and not worry about what everyone is doing. And, I certainly hope you don’t have to worry about people killing you. If you do, I don’t get that either.

Well I do have to worry about people who want to kill me; being gay in America means being dehumanized by people who think that their reality trumps my right to life and liberty. People who argue for executing gays aren’t joking. i don’t understand it; I don’t agree with it. But dogma is killing and terrorizing people all over the globe.

That’s terrible. I had a good friend in college who couldn’t even rely on his family when he “came out”. They shunned him. He was apprehensive about even telling us, afraid we, his friends, would do the same. We didn’t of course, but he eventually committed suicide. No note or other clues were given as to why, so I don’t know what his mindset was at the time. But nobody should be forced to live in fear or regret or shame or be shunned because of sexual orientation. It’s bullshit, and I’m not sure why people really care so much what another person does in their private life. Makes zero sense to me.

I did not know the truth of my own internalized homophobia until the AIDS epidemic began. Buried deep in my mind was the poisonous belief that the essence of my being, the way I sought and gave love in my intimate relationships, was an offense to God and nature.

I very nearly destroyed myself because of the horror of watching my friends die as my government silently approved.

Eventually I discovered that I and my community was stronger than the hate that wanted us dead.

One does not eradicate the hatred that one absorbs as a child.

It lies in wait and colors your view of life.

I am sorry about the loss of your friend.

I’m sorry that he could not find a way to heal the wounds inflicted on him by his family and his community.

Believe me, I am too. There were five of us that we’re inseperable. When he took his own life, it left a hole in all of the remaining four. His family shunned him, but he had us that would’ve been his surrogate family. He never gave us any indication of what was looming. He was fully accepted by the four of us, and we never once judged or thought less of him for being gay. It’s something none of us have ever gotten over, and we to this day, 25 years later, still either are together or in touch via phone/text on the anniversary. I even made a post about a while back (Tarnished Silver, if you ever want to check it out). We could’ve been his family, and the other 3 friends are all referred to by my kids as “uncle”. It still pisses me off that we weren’t given the opportunity to help him through this and be his surrogate families now. Not being in his shoes though, I guess it’s not for me to understand. It just breaks my heart to even talk about it.

I’m sure it does. I’ve lost many good friends and ‘made’ family members to internalized homophobia. It’s sad and demoralizing but when you speak of this you are also taking a firm stand against the use of words and ideas as weapons of destruction. I think that your friend knows of your love…

I hope so. I’m a big believer in getting signs from the other side, but I can’t say I’ve gotten much from him over the years. Though there was one time years ago. We all whitewater, including him when he was alive. I was on a trip down the Nantahala River and got stuck in a hydraulic. No matter how I struggled, I was stuck. All the sudden it felt like my kayak got a shove from behind. It freed me up all of the sudden and I was upright. When I calmed down and caught my breath, I realized there was nobody behind me, no river rescuer on the bank. Nothing. I may be crazy, but I attributed it to him. But that’s it. Maybe talking about him so much recently will result in some other kind of sign from him. I get signs all the time from my mother-in-law, whom I was very close to. But not from him. Some of my buddies say he shows up in dreams every now and then for them though.